News Archives for September 2009

As expected, this morning Opera Software released a new version of its web browser, Opera 10, which includes a new UI, enhancements to the UI and built-in mail client, improved performance as well as support for new web standards. Web developers receive a new version of Opera Dragonfly, Opera's built in web development tools which allow developers to edit the DOM as well as inspect HTTP headers.

"At Opera, we have always worked hard to innovate new ways to improve everyone's browsing experience," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. "Opera Turbo is our newest innovation, and one we think everyone should try, because we all will face a slow connection at some point. Now, there is a solution, and it is absolutely free. We are excited to offer Opera 10 to the world, and we hope even more people discover what the 40 million people who have already made the switch know: browsing with Opera makes the Web a safer, more enjoyable and more interesting place."

Opera has long had a loyal (if not fanatic) following, however Opera has seen a slight decline in market share over the last several quarters and is currently sitting in fifth place among the desktop web browsers. Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox continue to nip away at Microsoft's dominant web browser, Internet Explorer, which currently holds about 62-percent of the browser market share.

While Opera's desktop client may not be getting the love some feel it deserves, Opera's mobile browser, Opera Mini, currently holds the number one position for mobile browsers. Opera Mini has a slight lead over the iPhone (mobile Safari) by less than 2%. Meanwhile, Nokia comes in a distant third.

Opera 10 is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux in over 60 languages and can be downloaded here. It may take a while, Opera's web site and FTP server appear to be getting hammered right now.

As detailed at the Gamescon 2009, Sony is readying a firmware update for the Playstation 3. Going along with the release of the 120GB Playstation 3 today, Sony will launch the v3.00 firmware shortly. PS3 users can be looking forward to something called "What's new" that will replace the Information Board, a new Status Indicator, a redesigned friends list, some new shortcuts to the Playstation Store, options to personalize your Playstation themes and last but not least, a new way of displaying your hard earned trophies!

In today's roundup we'll start off by checking out a pair of CPU coolers. The DeepCool Killer Whale heatsink features six 6mm heatpipes mated to a solid copper base. The Kingwin Kingwin XT-1264 (also reviewed by OCC here) uses four 6mm heatpipes in a direct touch design. Both heatsinks use a 120mm fan for cooling, so which one is the better performer? We'll let you decide by checking out the reviews for yourself. In storage we get a look at the Thecus M3800 Stream Box designed for both media storage and playback duties. You can read all the reviews using the links below.

Intel is releasing a new quad core processor based on the Yorkfield cores, the Q9505. The Core 2 Quad has specs almost identical to that of the Q9550, with a clock speed of 2.83GHz, and a FSB of 1333MHz. The major difference here is the L2 cache, with the Q9505 having 2 x 3MB and the Q9550 having 2 x 6MB. The new processor will support all of the features of the series, including VT, and is selling in Japan for PY 22,770. Look for the processor to hit the states at a price of around $210 USD.

A deal was announced today that leaves eBay with 35% of Skype, with the rest going to a group of venture capitalists. The president of Skype, Josh Silverman, sees this as an opportunity to start over, with a group of owners that believe in the principles that Skype was founded on. eBay remained largely uninvolved since purchasing Skype in 2005, and the losses continued to pile up. In an interesting twist, the company that owns the technology Skype uses to communicate recently cut off eBay's license to use the technology.

Sony and Google have signed a deal to package the Chrome web browser on new Vaio PCs. Chrome will be included in addition to Internet Explorer, so users will still have a choice as to which they want to use. This will open the door for thousands of users who may never use Chrome otherwise. Google is currently in talks with other PC manufacturers to strike similar distribution deals. However, the possibility of Chrome becoming the new goto browser anytime soon are slim, as only about 3% of internet users browse with Chrome.

With the release of Windows 7 less than two months away there's been increasing speculation around when the next generation of videocards with support for DirectX 11 will be available. ATI has already demoed working silicon for the next generation cards based on a 40nm process and now PowerColor is offering users the chance to win a DX11 card with the announcement of its Design and Choose the Best online contest.

The contest involves using design elements provided by PowerColor and incorporating them into an original wallpaper, screen saver or IM icon. Contestants can submit up to three entries in each category with winners to be determined by popular vote. Entries will be accepted from September 1 through September 20. Voting begins the next day and runs through September 20 with the final winners to be announced October 5.

Just because you lack any semblance of creativity doesn't mean you can't qualify to win something as voters will be eligible to win one of 20 Go! Green HD4670 videocards. You can check out the details and download the design elements from the PowerColor contest site.

Solid state drives continue to garner attention in the press and while the prices have come down, they still represent a considerable price premium over conventional hard drives. Today's roundup includes a four-way comparison of drives from the likes of Corsair, PhotoFast and OCZ along with a separate review of another unit from PhotoFast. We also picked up coverage from the recent MSI Overclocking Arena 2009 finals in Beijing. You can find the rest of the reviews using the included links below, so settle in for some good reading today and check out what the best of the web has to offer.

Users of Google's Gmail service will likely have noticed some issues yesterday, as the company experienced some down time of its email web interface. Google officially report that the outage lasted for around 100 minutes, though some of you may have noticed it taking a little more time to get fully back to normal. The problem was caused when engineers took down a small portion of Gmail servers for routine upgrades, but the affect this would have on the rest of the service was underestimated. Some other recent changes that were made meant that the request routers that process queries and direct them to appropriate servers became overloaded. That effectively saw the service grind to a halt until measures could be taken to remedy the situation. Notably, IMAP and POP access was not affected, as these requests don't use the same routers.

With Gmail now among the top three email services, further incidents such as this could hurt its reputation and potential suitability for critical applications. Google say they will be putting resources into place that ensure a similar event doesn't happen again.

Microsoft is offering a free 90 day trial of Windows 7 to people with Technet subscriptions. Many professionals are signed up for this service, and the free trial is meant to give them an extended look at the operating system. Microsoft is hoping that some of these free trials will lead to sales, as people continue to evaluate if the upgrade is worth it. The number of trials is limited, so be sure to get yours now if you want to get in on the trial. After the trial expires, users will need to purchase a full license to continue using the OS.

Qwest announced today that it will be upgrading its internet backbone with some help from optical technology developed by Alcatel-Lucent. This new backbone will bring with it a 100Gbps rating, making it much faster than Roadrunner Turbo. However, the impressive bandwidth will only be available to enterprise and government users. These groups often have high bandwidth needs, and these needs will likely increase as new technologies are developed allowing businesses to connect with each other. Qwest will work on this upgrade through 2010, hopefully finishing by the end of the year. Verizon is also working on upgrading its backbone, and hopes to release on a similar time frame.

Keeping your laptop cool is sometimes more of a job than a notebook's internal cooling fan can handle. Most aftermarket notebook coolers are designed to cool the exterior case, but Evercool has announced its new FIT cooler which is designed to augment the built-in cooling fan by extracting hot air from the laptop's exhaust port. The unit's small size makes it attractive to users that are on the go as it only weighs around 60 grams and is compact enough to not to take up much room in a laptop case. The FIT requires no installation and uses a set of feet with a multiple angle adjustment feature to help it snug up securely against the ventilation port on laptops ranging from 9-18". The included USB cable powers a small 3500 RPM fan that is rated at less than 25dBA. There's no word on availability or pricing yet.

NZXT has just released its latest gaming case called the Lexa S. The mid-tower chassis is designed to offer enhanced airflow through the use of 120mm and 140mm fans mounted at the front, rear, side and top of the case; the included fan controller allows independent speed settings for the intake and exhaust fans. The all-black case includes a smoked side window as well as a painted black interior. The meshed front panel improves airflow and also features a hidden 5.25" bay for a cleaner look. Inside the case you'll find punched holes in the motherboard tray for improved cable management and room to fit longer 10.5" graphics cards. The case includes pre-drilled water cooling holes at the rear and mounting holes for a dual radiator at the top.

NZXT has said the Lexa S will be available in September at an MSRP of $69.99.

First up, the X58 Classified 4-Way SLI motherboard includes support for a 4-Way SLI setup (as its namesake suggests) - a world first! Also included are seven PCIe slots, 10 Phase Digital PWM, 100% solid state capacitors, a low ESR/ESL film capacitor, up to 600W of power dedicated to the CPU and support for up to 24GB of memory. Another innovative extra is the tripling of gold content in the LGA 1366 socket for better conductivity. The board has nine SATA connectors and dual 10/100/1000 LAN connectivity. It is also compatible with EVGA's E-LEET, EVbot and ECP V2 utilities. This new board is built around a custom form factor: "XL-ATX", which is bigger than E-ATX measuring in at 13.5 inches x 10.3 inches.

Next is the Classified GTX 285, designed especially to pair up with the X58 Classified 4-Way SLI motherboard. It features 8 Phase Digital PWM, dedicated voltage reading points, a low ESR/ESL film capacitor, 4-Way SLI support in the X58 Classified 4-Way SLI motherboard, EVGAEVbot support, an X-Cool jumper for overclocking and three PCIe 6 pin power connectors for up to 640W of dedicated electricity for the GPU and memory. The Classified GTX 285 runs on the standard GTX 285 clock speeds (648MHz/2484MHz/1476MHz|GPU/Memory/Shader) and features dual-DVI support.

Vince "k|ngp|n" Lucido and Peter "Shamino" Tan were able to beat 4 3DMark world records with these new EVGA offerings, in 4-Way SLI of course! EVGA recommend a PC chassis with at least nine expansion slots to fit the X58 Classified 4-Way SLI motherboard and you'll need 10 expansion slots if you're planning a 4-Way SLI set-up like k|ngp|n and Shamino.
The EVGA X58 Classified 4-Way SLI motherboard and EVGA Classified GTX 285 are currently available for pre-order, priced at US$550 and US$380 respectively from the EVGA online store.

If you've never been to an Apple retail store, it can be a pretty neat experience. Apple has just about every system they make on display so that potential buyers can play with a system before making the purchase. The entire entryway to the store is usually glass with two tall glass doors. There are no metal bars or grate fencing, after all that kind of stuff would clash Apple's style and fashion.

Five thieves broke into Apple’s Sagemore store in Marlton, NJ (about 30 min East of Philly, PA) and took advantage of Apple's glass store front and open displays. After smashing through the front door, and allegedly threatening the security guard with a weapon, the thieves made off with 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod Touches. From break-in to getaway took just 31 seconds.

While the report doesn’t provide specifics as to the models stolen, I’d guess the low value would be over $40,000 with the actual value being several thousand more.

The security footage of the heist has been obtained by WPVI-TV (ABC News):

There have been a number of recent stories about would be crooks stealing iPhones only to be apprehended quickly by police thanks to Apple's new "Find my iPhone" feature available to MobileMe subscribers using the iPhone 3.0 OS. I would have to assume that Apple has something like that, if not more sophisticated, in place for their display units. If you have any information in regards to this burglary, please contact the local authorities at (856) 983-1118 or the confidential tip line at (856) 988-4699. [Source: Mashable]

Maintaining a balance between cool and quiet can sometimes be a delicate task when it comes to high-performance computers and that's where a fan controller such as the NZXT Sentry 2 touch-screen unit (reviewed by OCC here) comes in handy. The Evercool Buffalo CPU cooler has been upgraded since OCC reviewed it earlier this year (here) so that it now fits LGA1366 Core i7 CPUs. Today's roundup also includes reviews on a pair of HD 4770 graphics cards from PowerColor and XFX. You can check out the rest of the reviews using the links below.

There have been a lot of complaints about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the way they approve patents and the patents they allow through the system. However, a patent granted to Google on September 1, 2009 may be the most asinine patent yet.

While Google has become synonymous search, the website's design is very minimalistic and looks like something that might have been put together by a student during the first week of an HTML 101 class. If you thought it was that simple, you'd be wrong by the USPTO's standards which apparently think the web page is a innovative "graphical user interface for a display screen of a communications terminal."

This could mean trouble for Ask.com, Yahoo, Altavista, and anyone else that has a screen with a few links, a search box, and a couple of buttons. Bing may be ok, since they've taken a fancier approach to the search screen with links on the left and a image on the background.

It took more than five years for this patent to slide through the system; it was originally filed on July 14, 2004. Google also owns a patent for the display of search results which it was granted in 2006, that patent was submitted at the same time as the home page patent.

Apple's iPhone has many features other phones don't, but one thing it has been lacking since its launch in 2007 has been Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) – something even standard phones usually offer. MMS is the ability to send multimedia, such as pictures and videos, to other mobile users like text messaging does, and it's something Apple has promised for a long time, but kept pushing back. The main reason it kept getting pushed back? Network traffic. The iPhone already stresses AT&T's network and MMS would just add to that. But finally, in an official press release, AT&T announced today that MMS would be arriving for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers on September 25, 2009. According to the press release, "the unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One." It's not all rosy news, however. The other big missing iPhone feature, tethering, received no mention in today's press release whatsoever.

Ever since hats became available in the Spy and Sniper update, TF2 players have coveted them above all other items. The hats were extremely rare, and users who racked up the hours were left hatless. Someone got a little tired of not having a hat and created an idling program which would allow users to appear to be playing the game when they actually weren't. Valve officially announced that it was taking a stand against these idlers. Any items accrued through the use of the idler will be deleted from the players inventory. Future offenses will result in all items being removed, even if they weren't obtained through idling. Players who didn't use the idler will be receiving a free hat in their inventories soon. I opened TF2 to find an Engineer's Cap, but most users reported receiving a halo.

GeIL has been busy recently as has just launched a total of fourteen new memory modules in both DDR2 and DDR3 formats. Starting with the eight new DDR2 models, the new modules are rated at 667MHz and 800MHz and come in 8GB (2 x 4GB) and 16GB (4 x 4GB) kits which all come with CL 6-6-6-18 timings. These new products are part of the Black Dragon and B.D. EVO ONE series of memory products.

The remaining six new offerings are DDR3 modules designed for the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 Lynnfield processors which are due out soon. Part of the Ultra and Gaming EVO ONE product lines, the kits are rated at 2000MHz and 2133MHz with latencies of CL 9-9-9-28.

All of these memory products are stress tested using GeIL's DBT technology that helps eliminate early-failures in the modules by burning them in at temperatures of 100C for up to 24 hours. The EVO ONE series of products come equipped with advanced heatspreaders that incorporate heatpipe technology to transfer heat to a set of copper cooling fins set in the center of the heatpipe.

It seems as if there is a never-ending supply of choices for cooling your CPU and today we get a look at the Deepcool Killer Whale Premium heatsink along with the Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler from Cooler Master (also reviewed by OCC here). Intel's new Lynnfield processors are just around the corner and we've been treated a long line of previews of P55 chipset motherboards leading up to the release. Today we get another peek at the ASUS P7P55D-Deluxe board (check out the OCC preview here). That leaves us with a pretty good list of other reviews including the Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 2GB Vapor-X (reviewed by OCC here), so settle in and hit the links below for some good reading.

But only in the UK! Still, for all you visitors and OCCers across the pond who are looking to build a new system using Intel's newest chipset, be prepared for some savings! The discount is expected to be available only on launch day, which at this time is suspected to be September 8. Still, for one day, when Intel will be releasing new core i5 and i7 processors, MSI is releasing a whopping 55% discount on two of its boards: the high-end MSI P55-GD80 and upper-mid range P55-GD65. The P55-GD80 will be £85.5 (originally £189), and the P55-GD65 will be £63 (originally £139.99), while participating retailers include SCAN, Ebuyer, CCL and OverclockersUK. Unfortunately, there is a limit of one unit per customer.

OnLive, a new way to play your favorite games by streaming them directly to your TV or PC, has gone into public Beta testing. So for some of you who signed up here (and there is still time to sign up), you may be contacted to start helping out. Only certain people will be picked, as when you sign up you provide some details about your internet connection and PC. If you pass round one, they first send you an invitational email asking you to " run a detailed Performance Test on your network connection and your computer configuration", and then if you fit in to one of their test groups (and thus pass round two), they will send you another email allowing you to install the OnLive plug-in into your browser. From there on out it's fun sailing, testing out the available games and reporting bugs. For more info on OnLive, you can check out their website here.

Back in August, Microsoft faced the prospect of only being able to sell certain versions of Word (2003 and 2007) for another 60 days. In addition to that, the company was slapped with a large fine. It was all due to the way Word implements the use of XML, a method that Canadian company i4i claimed infringed on one of its patents. Microsoft has now been granted a stay on the injunction that would see sales of affected versions of Word banned. The date of the appeal hearing, in which Microsoft will attempt to have the original ruling overturned has also been brought forward and will now take place later this month.

So Microsoft will be allowed to continue selling word for now, with a more definite decision being made on the case sometime in the near future.

Lian Li has launched two new aluminum cases with the announcement of the PC-60FN and PC-7FN mid-tower chassis. The new cases are virtual mirror images of one another with the only difference being the front bezel design; the front intake on the PC-60FN is more open, allowing the 140mm blue LED fan to be more visible while the PC-7FN presents a more subtle look with its smooth rounded vent covers.

Both cases have plenty of what you'd expect in a Lian Li case - all aluminum construction, rounded edges in the interior and tool-less design. These two cases come with removable top, side and front panels, a removable motherboard tray and plenty of tool-less mounting features. Lian Li has added an additional PCI expansion slot, with a total of eight, allowing for convenient three-way SLI or CrossFireX configurations. Other features include four internal HDD bays, five external 5.25" bays and a bottom mounted PSU space. Cooling is provided by a low front 140mm fan with a high rear 120mm exhaust fan where you might expect the power supply to be. The intakes, including the bottom PSU intake, are protected by washable nylon filters.

Lian Li has said the PC-60FN and PC-7FN will be available in early October at a suggested price of $129US.

Back in July, Amazon deleted copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from its Kindle reader. The deletion was done without warning, and many people were extremely upset despite being refunded the purchase price. The copies were all purchased legally, but they were sold by an unauthorized publisher. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent an e-mail to all users who had their books deleted, with an apology and an offer to make it right. Amazon will be offering to return the copies of the books, with notes intact, or users can choose a $30 gift card or check.

The solid state drive is not a mainstream technology - yet; one of the drawbacks is that many cases today don't offer a convenient way to mount 2.5"format drives. Patriot has developed two different products designed for mounting SSDs including the Patriot Convoy and Convoy XL enclosures. Our weekend roundup also includes a couple of more previews of P55 motherboards. Enjoy your reading.

According to a report from the automaker, Toyota is claiming that it has recently sold its two millionth hybrid vehicle since statistics were counted last month. These findings come long after the original Prius was introduced to the public as one of the first hybrid cars from Toyota to become available to consumers, providing better gas mileage than other cars and automobiles. Now, with the Prius being in its third generation of manufacturing, the auto maker has been selling more hybrid vehicles than ever, with a total of thirteen hybrid cars in its current lineup. It plans to have a hybrid version of every car it makes by the next decade. Lexus however, who is the luxury division of the company, is also said to be sporting its soon to be fourth hybrid automobile to come into the market.

Here in the States our readers are getting to enjoy a long Labor Day weekend with an extra day off, but we still managed to pull a few reviews from around the web. With the release of Intel's Lynnfield Core i5/i7 processors almost upon us, we have another preview of a P55 motherboard, with a look at the MSI P55-GD65. The folks over at Madshrimps give us a look at the F1 Overclocking Competition along with some of the first round results. You can check out the rest of the articles in today's roundup by following the links below.

Samsung introduced a prototype remote control at the IFA event in Berlin that is unlike any remote I have ever seen. The remote features a 7 inch touchscreen that will allow users to view TV shows on the remote while watching others on their TV. This is accomplished through the use of dual tuners in the TV, allowing each device to watch something separate. The remote will connect to the TV using 802.11n wireless. The remote will also feature the standard ability to control the TV and view a TV guide. As the remote is still just a prototype there is no word on when this awesome device will become available.

Sales of the new PS3 Slim are way up this week in the UK, 1000 percent over the previous week. This can likely be attributed to the fact that it is a newer model with a larger hard drive, and more importantly a lower price. The PS3 Slim even managed to outsell the other two major consoles and the DS Lite by a 3 to 1 ratio. Though the important question is whether the demand will stay up or if this was just a one time spike. Also, it is unknown how many units were purchased by new customers rather than existing customers looking to upgrade.

Spotify, a music streaming service popular in some European countries has now taken the step onto both Android and iPhone mobile platforms. Available to premium subscribers of the service in the UK, Sweden, France, Spain, Norway and Finland (iPhone app only for now), the application is now appearing on both Apple's App Store and the Android Market and allows users to stream tracks as well as sync playlists (storing up to 3,000 songs) to be played back while disconnected.

The majority of Spotify's 6 million+ users currently use the free, ad-supported service, with only around one in fifty opting to pay, so the company will no doubt be hoping that the availability of the service on phones to premium subscribers will drive up the number willing to shell out the monthly fee. The service is also planning to launch in the US before the end of the year.

Updates to both Firefox 3.0 and 3.5 due this week (currently scheduled for the 9th) will see the introduction of a check for outdated versions of Adobe's Flash Player in a bid to improve security for web users. Flash Player has become a frequent target for hackers looking to undermine the security of web browsers, and with many users not staying up to date, a large number of machines can still be vulnerable even after a fix is released.

Upon updating Firefox to the latest version (3.5.3 or 3.0.14) users will be presented with a message urging them to install the latest version of Flash should it be found the plug-in is not up date. With a similar goal in mind, Mozilla will be publishing a page on its site later in the month that will allow users to check the whether other plug-ins are currently up to date. It will also be working with other companies with the goal of having Firefox 3.6 detect the status of a range of popular plug-ins, such as Apple's Quicktime and Sun's Java.

Intel's Lynnfield Core i5/Core i7 officially launched today, and with review sites no longer bound by a non-disclosure agreement, the wraps are officially off the P55 chipset motherboards needed for the new CPUs. While we have been seeing previews of P55 boards for quite some time, we can now look at some real performance numbers with boards from ASUS and MSI in today's roundup. Of course, we also have a separate roundup of the Lynnfield Core i5 and i7 processors today as well.

After all the previews and marketing hype the official launch today of Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 "Lynnfield" processors comes as somewhat of a relief. The corresponding LGA1156 socket motherboards based on the P55 chipset also come out from under wraps, although we have been seeing previews of the boards for quite some time. The new processors are intended to bring Intel's Nehalem architecture to the mainstream market with the initial launch of three new processors - the Core i7 870 and 860 along with the Core i5 750. Briefly, you're looking at clock speeds of 2.93 GHz for the Core i7 870, 2.8 GHz for the Core i7 860 and 2.66 GHz for the Core i5 750. The Core i7 processors will feature Intel's Hyper Threading technology as well. The Lynnfield processors also use a dual-channel memory controller, reducing the pin count to 1156, hence the need for a new LGA1156 socket motherboards based on the P55 chipset. With all the reviews in the roundup, you can read about the rest of the details by checking out the links below.

A leaked training course for Best Buy employees has made its way on to the internet. The training course was provided by Microsoft and educates the employees on the truth behind Linux. The training informs employees that Windows is safer than Linux and seems to indicate that Linux may not receive free updates. As an avid Linux user, I am shocked at the claims made in these training slides. While some of points about being easy to use and be comfortable with may be valid for an advanced distro like Gentoo, there are plenty of versions that are very easy to use. A casual PC user would likely be able to do everything they needed to on a Windows computer using Ubuntu for example. It is this kind of misinformation that can lead people away from using Linux, and it just isn't right.

The recently launched Intel Core i5 processors based on the Nehalem architecture will be making their way into new computers from Dell and Falcon Northwest. The Dell systems will be added to the Studio XPS line of desktops, with the 8000 and 9000 models. The systems start at $799 and are targeted at users who want power but don't want to spend too much. Falcon Northwest will begin selling all systems in its Talon line standard with the i5 processors. The systems will start above $1000, but a minimal system may be available for under $1000. For more information on the Core i5 chips, be sure to check out the official OCC review.

With the introduction of the new Intel socket, known as the LGA 1156 socket, motherboard manufacturers will have to produce new products to support the next age technology. ASUS, one of the major motherboard manufacturers alongside GIGABYTE and others, is introducing two new gaming platform products into the market, known as the ROG Maximus III Formula and the ROG Maximus III Gene. The Formula edition includes ten SATA 3.0GB/s ports, compared to the seven on the Gene, along with a discrete SupremeFX X-Fi eight-channel sound card, while the Gene comes with onboard eight-channel sound. Both boards feature CrossFireX and SLI support; fourteen USB 2.0 ports, one PS/2, one S/PDIF port, a clear CMOS button, as well as a ROG connect on and off switch. The ROG Maximus III Formula includes three PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, while the Gene version comes with two, due to the Gene being mATX instead of a full ATX board as the Formula is. Neither price nor availability is known yet, but these boards should serve the gaming community well when they finally get launched to the public for purchase.

Prior to today's official launch of the Intel Core i5/i7 Lynnfield processors, we were forced to be content with previews of P55 motherboards such as the Gigabyte GA-EP55-UD4P. Well now the wraps are off and Gigabyte has officially launched six new boards based on the P55 chipset and the LGA1156 socket. The boards support dual-channel DDR3 memory at speeds of up to 2200MHz. The new boards feature Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 technology which utilizes two ounces of copper in the power and ground layers of the PCB for improved energy efficiency and heat dissipation, resulting in enhanced stability and greater overclocking ability. Also being introduced in this series with the Gigabyte GA-EP55-UD4P model is the world’s first 24 phase power VRM design that provides quick and seamless power delivery under varying CPU loading conditions while also offering a cooler and more stable platform by spreading the load between all 24 power phases. The boards also feature innovative Smart 6 PC management tools and Dynamic Energy Saver 2 power saving utilities along with a ton of other features.

Our roundup today contains more items in the wake of yesterday's official release of the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 "Lynnfield" CPUs and the corresponding P55 chipset. First up are several reviews of the processors themselves followed by a couple of full reviews on P55 motherboards from Gigabyte. Also included is video coverage from the Intel press conference in Taipei.

Apple's iPod event doesn't officially start until 1pm EST today, but it looks like Apple decided to start the party a little early. This morning the Apple Store saw a number of price cuts across the iPod lineup. While the move is most likely an attempt to sell off existing inventory to make room for new products rumored to be announced today, it is probably no coincidence that the price cuts now put the 32 GB iPod Touch at a lower price point than Microsoft's high-end Zune HD which will be released next week.

Hasbro, the creators of the popular board game Monopoly, will be unleashing a whole new animal on the internet tomorrow. Using Google Maps as the game board, Monopoly City Streets will allow users to purchase real streets that can be found using the service. Players will start with $3 million in Monopoly money, and will be able to place property on their streets. Only one player may own each street, but players can trade them if they wish. Chance cards will allow users to place bonus buildings such as schools on their streets. Players will earn rent from properties and will then be able to expand their real estate empire. The game will run until January 2010.

Users of phones based on the Google Android operating system will finally be able to get their hands on a Facebook app for their phone. Up until now, users have had to deal with the Facebook Lite page which wasn't easy to use and may have hindered the experience. The app will be nearly as full featured as the site, with the ability to check your friends wall and upload photos among other things. In addition, users can create a widget to notify them of updates. However, features like Facebook chat and messaging have been left out of the app for now.

AT&T has announced that it will be offering a new program titled A-List with Rollover. AT&T has decided to join the likes of Verizon's Friends and Family and T-Mobile's myFaves. The new A-List feature will roll out on September 20th and can be accessed through customer's MyWireless Account online. The new program will allow unlimited calling to the "VIP" domestic phone numbers that the customer chooses for the A-List. Any unused minutes will also be converted to rollover minutes for use in subsequent months. Individual plan holders with a Nation plan of $59.99 or more will be able to add up to 5 domestic phone numbers to the A-List. Family plan holders with a Naion plan of $89.99 or more will be able to add up to 10 numbers to the A-List, and any member of the family plan may call any of those 10 number without using minutes. Domestic phone numbers may be added or deleted at any time through the MyWireless Account online; however, it takes 24 horus for changes to take effect.

A flaw in Microsoft's implementation of the Server Message Block 2 protocol could allow computers running Windows Vista or Server 2008 (but not R2) to be crashed and restarted remotely. Microsoft has noted that these are the only OS versions affected, though apparently the problem is also present in the Windows 7 RC. The vulnerability is caused by the implementation of the SMB protocol not correctly parsing negotiation requests, which will likely result in the system becoming unresponsive and restarting. However, in some cases it could potentially lead to an attacker gaining control of the affected system. A security update is currently in the works, but if you want to do something about it in the mean time, Microsoft is recommending disabling SMB v2 and blocking TCP ports 139 and 445 (though if you are serious about security you are probably blocking all unsolicited inbound traffic already, right?).

In case you haven't noticed, today is September 9th, 2009...9-9-09, the last time we'll see the same three single digits for the month, day, and year for almost a century. Apple surely noticed this and released quite a few new products today. Apple even switched from its standard Tuesday release day to release on 9-9-09. Even many devices that are current products saw price cuts.

The iPod Touch saw a new 64GB model released and price cuts on current models. The new 64GB model retails for $399, the 32GB is now $299, and the 8GB model will go for $199. Surprisingly, Apple did not include a camera on the new line, but they do use the new iPhone 3Gs CPU.

The iPod Nano saw a big improvement with the addition of a video camera and larger screen for it 5th generation. The 8GB model will retail for $149, while the 16GB model will sell for $179.

The iPod Shuffle also received an update with fresh colors and a lower price. There are 5 colors available, and a Special Edition only available from the Apple Store. The Special Edition is 4GB with a polished stainless steel housing for $99. The standard edition is available in 2GB or 4GB for $59 and $79 respectively.

iTunes 9 was also released today with many improvements. The iTunes Store was redesigned, iTunes LP features bonus material in some albums, Genius Mixes works similar to a radio, and Apps are now easier to manage. However, for those with Palm Pre devices, Apple has managed to break syncing with these devices. iTunes 9 is available for download today on Apple's website.

Living on the other side of the Atlantic, I haven't had any first hand experience with AT&T's 3G network, so whether it is up to scratch isn't really a call I can make (maybe you can tell me?). The good news for the provider's customers is that they are apparently planning on deploying some additional backhaul capacity to their network, as well as rolling out HSPA 7.2Mbps equipment in selected cities. If you live in Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles or Miami then you should get initial availability before the year is out. If you live elsewhere you might be in for a longer wait, though AT&T does plan on expanding HSPA 7.2 to "about 90 percent of its existing 3G network footprint" by the end of 2011.

Back when Dell first released their initial Adamo product, consumers realized quickly how underpowered it was compared to its price. Apple continued after that to hold the crown in the ultra-thin laptop market with its MacBook Air, and sales continued to grow. This time around however, Dell seems to be going back to the drawing board considering the Adamo XPS and redesigning it, with the laptop measuring only 9.99mm thick all the way around. Other than this super thin design, nothing else is yet known about the new Adamo. Unfortunately, price will still probably be high due to the thinness of the laptop, but it will turn a few heads without a doubt when more is revealed.

Asus officially announced six new motherboards in its P7P55D series yesterday to coincide with he launch of the Intel Core i5/Core i7 "Lynnfield" processors. Based on the P55 chipset, the new boards feature the new LGA1156 socket and support for up to 16GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory running at speeds up to 2000MHz. The boards include the latest Hybrid Technology — Hybrid Processor, Hybrid Phase, and Hybrid OS—to give users intelligent performance enhancements, active cooling, and rapid online access. The flagship P7P55D Premium comes with native support for 6Gbps SATA through an onboard expansion bridge while the other models can be outfitted with the latest SATA technology through the use of an option expansion card. There are plenty of other storage options including 6-9 3Gb/s SATA connections, 12-14 USB 2.0 ports and eSATA and Firewire connections depending on model. The boards are available immediately with suggested prices ranging from $139 on the entry-level P7P55D LE up to $279 for the high-end Premium model although a quick online check showed these boards can be found for less than that.

When OCC reviewed the vReveal video enhancement software earlier this year, our reviewer found a lot to like about the package including the results along with its ease of use and the fact that it is CUDA-enabled in order to take advantage of the additional processing power offered by NVIDIA GPUs. Motion DSP has recently upgraded the software to include support for NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series (G80) graphics cards as well as other additional features: